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Ampicillin is an antibiotic belonging to the aminopenicillin class of the penicillin family. The drug is used to prevent and treat several bacterial infections, such as respiratory tract infections, urinary tract infections, meningitis, salmonellosis, and endocarditis. [7] It may also be used to prevent group B streptococcal infection in ...
β-Lactam antibiotics are indicated for the prevention and treatment of bacterial infections caused by susceptible organisms. At first, β-lactam antibiotics were mainly active only against gram-positive bacteria, yet the recent development of broad-spectrum β-lactam antibiotics active against various gram-negative organisms has increased their usefulness.
Ampicillin/sulbactam is also used when the cause of an infection is not known (empiric therapy), such as intra-abdominal infections, skin infections, pneumonia, and gynecologic infections. It is active against a wide range of bacterial groups, including Staphylococcus aureus , Enterobacteriaceae , and anaerobic bacteria .
Bactericidal antibiotics kill bacteria; bacteriostatic antibiotics slow their growth or reproduction. Bactericidal antibiotics that inhibit cell wall synthesis: the beta-lactam antibiotics ( penicillin derivatives ( penams ), cephalosporins ( cephems ), monobactams , and carbapenems ) and vancomycin .
The bactericidal activity of antibacterials may depend on the bacterial growth phase, and it often requires ongoing metabolic activity and division of bacterial cells. [66] These findings are based on laboratory studies, and in clinical settings have also been shown to eliminate bacterial infection.
The minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) is the lowest concentration of an antibacterial agent required to kill a particular bacterium. [1] It can be determined from broth dilution minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) tests by subculturing to agar plates that do not contain the test agent.
Agar dilution is one of two methods (along with broth dilution) used by researchers to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of antibiotics. It is the dilution method most frequently used to test the effectiveness of new antibiotics when a few antibiotics are tested against a large panel of different bacteria.
Production of antibiotics is a naturally occurring event, that thanks to advances in science can now be replicated and improved upon in laboratory settings. Due to the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming, and the efforts of Florey and Chain in 1938, large-scale, pharmaceutical production of antibiotics has been made possible.